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This book reveals the hidden health dangers in many of the seemingly innocent products we encounter every day—a tube of glue in a kitchen drawer, a bottle of bleach in the laundry room, a rayon scarf on a closet shelf, a brass knob on the front door, a wood plank on an outdoor deck. A compelling exposé, written by a physician with extensive experience in public health and illustrated with disturbing case histories, How Everyday Products Make People Sick is a rich and meticulously documented account of injury and illness across different time periods, places, and technologies.

Paul D. Blanc is Professor of Medicine and holds the Endowed Chair in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

“A superbly researched and scholarly book that traces the history of the author’s selection of relatively well-known occupational hazards.”—Occupational & Environmental Medicine

“A scathing account of how industry toxins and factory processes have systematically poisoned large portions of the human population. . . . Documents hazards generated as new products and processes birth chemicals that sicken workers and environments, and castigates governments and businesses that have historically denied, ignored, or weakened protections for workers. “—Library Journal

“His descriptions are colorful and make what can sometimes be a dry subject come alive. . . . Entertaining but interesting.”—Jama

Nothing less than an extraordinarily documented tapestry of history, whodunit, who ignored it, and why it matters, this examination of everyday toxins is a revealing and compelling read. . . . Compelling from an environmental, public health and medical viewpoints, it is an indictment of industrial malfeasance. It is not alarmist and is more history than hysterics.”—Foreword

“An enjoyable, well written and well researched piece of work.”—Ronnie Johnston Social History Of Medicine

“Using colourful stories, Blanc offers evidence for his main points, most notably that there is no absolute division between consumers and workers. It is a wonderful read. . . . In the 26 years since I directed the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, I haven’t seen a book that so clearly describes how the health of workers fits into the big picture, and how occupational health can also protect the public.”—Anthony Robbins Nature

“This is the work of a lifetime, one sure to be a classic for future lifetimes. Thirty years ago, Paul Blanc educated me about the threat of cancers caused by corporate and government negligence. Now he tells a great, entertaining and shocking story, based on a vast knowledge of science, government regulation, history and popular culture that shows our personal dependency and the almost-forsaken cause of public health."—Tom Hayden, former chairman, committee on natural resources, California state senate.”

"A masterful synthesis of some of the very heated and critical environmental and occupational health issues of our time. Paul Blanc offers a grounded look at the long term history of industrial disease, and the toxic environment in which we now live -- something that has been overlooked in discussions of the rise of the modern environmental movement."—David Rosner, author of Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution and co-author of Are We Ready? Public Health Since 9/11.